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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN THE ROUND TABLE
Abby had not been able to get through to Hopper—much less even get ahold of him—and so, after several attempted calls, they're back on square one. This is their battle that they're going to have to fight alone. Like the knights at the round table, the motley crew of four gather around the table in the backroom of Scoops in various positions. They're the farthest thing from knights in shining armor, though. They're still young and fresh-faced, they still have so much to learn about the world, so much to discover and explore, so much gleaming golden potential—and yet three of them have already faced horrors beyond comprehension.
Dustin, their faithful scout, paces back and forth and supplies them with the information of the keycard that he had gathered from perching on the rooftops of Starcourt and staring down at the Russians. Abby slumps in her seat with her arms crossed over her chest and a dour expression on her face. Beside her, Steve props his knee up and spins his Scoops Ahoy hat around on his fingers while Robin, who sits to her lift leans forward and stares down forlornly at the ice cream scooper in her hand. It felt like just yesterday that they were scooping ice cream, laughing, and keeping track of how many times Steve had been rejected, but they had been thrown headfirst into this problem and there was no going back now.
"That keycard opens the door," Dustin explains. "But unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it."
"But there's gotta be a way in," Robin presses as she keeps her gaze fixated on the scooper in her hands.
"There has to be some sort of emergency escape exit in that room, right? We could enter that way," Abby suggests.
Steve blows into his cap, effectively popping it back into shape as he tosses it down on the table. "You know," Steve leans forward and shares a glance with each of his companions, "I could just take him out."
Robin raises her eyebrows and leans forward, "Take who out?"
"The Russian guard," Steve answers.
Abby snorts and manages to mask it behind a cough, hoping that he isn't serious. Robin merely lets out a sigh and falls back into her chair while Dustin stares at Steve with an amused expression on his face. Here's the thing: Abby knows that there is a lot that Steve Harrington is capable of; bringing some sort of light to otherwise hopeless situations, rupturing eardrums whenever his favorite songs play, incessant talking during movies, the uncanny ability to make a smile grow across Abby's face no matter how hard she tries to suppress one. But the one thing he isn't capable of, without a doubt is fighting. And then she remembers November, she remembers Billy and his anger, Billy and his flying fists, Billy pummeling Steve until he was senseless. Steve Harrington isn't invincible. He doesn't stand a chance against the Russian guards, not when they're easily twice the size of Billy, and certainly not when they're armed with guns.
